The Washington Capitals scored twice in 26 seconds to seize a 3-1 third period lead, including Mike Richards first goal as a Cap, and then held on to win, 3-2, over a fast and structured Arizona Coyotes club.

Richards tally came after Tom Wilson alertly charged the cage following his hard shot that handcuffed goalie Louis Domingue (31 saves). The biscuit was laying to the immediate right of the Coyotes goalie and as he tried to cover it, his defensemen shoved his stick under Domingue’s glove just as Wilson was storming the crease. The puck popped into the slot and #10 pounced on it and buried it for the eventual game winning goal.

Alex Ovechkin had given the Capitals the lead for the first time in this contest moments earlier after an Evgeny Kuznetsov feed (1 goal, 1 assist). The Gr8 stickhandled the biscuit in the left wing circle and then waited for an opening to laser it through a maze of Arizona defenders off of Domingue and into the net. The Gr8’s goal was his 39th of the season and he now has 55 points on the season. He continues to find different ways to score key goals and it once again came in a tight contest where the outcome was still in doubt.

The Coyotes, who are coached by former Capital Dave Tippett, would not go away and they cut the margin to one with 10:17 remaining on a shot off of a faceoff where Braden Holtby was screened (25 saves). The Holtbeast would then be forced to make a sprawling glove save shortly thereafter to preserve the lead. After that though, the Caps shut things down and really gave Arizona no good chances until the final horn.

Richards and his linemates, Jason Chimera and Wilson, were the stars of this night with their play. The former Flyer and King took advantage of the opportunity presented to him with Marcus Johansson under the weather, centering the third unit. Chimera was flat out on Mach Two all night flying from the very first shift where he might have scored on a breakaway if not for the biscuit bouncing all over the Wizards ice (and that was a common theme in this one). The third line generated numerous scoring chances and all three did a great job on the penalty kill, as well.

The Caps took far too many of the lazy infraction variety on Monday night, including three in the first frame. Overall the Coyotes had six power plays and a total of 10:30 of man advantage time. That is way too much and the coaching staff cannot be happy with the undisciplined play in this one. There is no blaming the referees for the penalties they took as the film will not lie.

Fortunately, Washington’s PK was outstanding as Arizona only had three shots on goal in all of the power play time. Let me say that again, Arizona only had three shots on goal in 10:30 of man advantage time, WOW! The Caps had two shots on goal during those shorthanded situations, including a sweet dangle and backhand near goal by Richards late in the middle frame. Richards was simply outstanding in this game and earned the number one star of the night.

The Caps recently struggling power play did get the team even on its first attempt in the second period when Kuznetsov shot from the right wing circle while most thought he would dish the biscuit off to Ovechkin or elsewhere. It was a heads up play by the young Russian who now has 62 points on the campaign. Washington had three other man advantage situations and had some good looks, but could not connect. Overall, the Capitals had 11 shots on goal in four opportunities, so the goals will come if they keep piling up the shots like that.

Holtby was strong in net and he made a great save on a Coyotes two on one rush right before the Ovechkin and Richards tallies. You need your goalie to come up big in tight contests and the Holtbeast delivered, once again. He has now won 38 games this season and is 30-2-3 in his last 36 starts with a 2.22 goals against average and a .926 save percentage.

This victory improves Washington to 44-10-4 for 92 points on the season. Simply put, this club just finds ways to win and they are fun to watch.

Enjoy the ride, there are seven more weeks until the playoffs begin, so sit back and take in what has so far been one of the most amazing seasons in NHL history.

Notes: Arizona scored the first goal, when the Capitals made a bad line change that gave the Yotes a three on two rush, but the Caps found a way to win again after allowing the opening tally. Washington is a NHL leading 16-9-4 when allowing the first goal…Matt Niskanen led the Caps in ice time with 23:25, but John Carlson played 23:17…Richards logged a season high 15:58 (15 games) and he had five shots on net. Most of them were quality scoring chances…the Caps had a tough night from the dot, going 33-41 on draws…Michael Latta tied for the team lead in hits with four (Carlson) in just 4:41 of ice time. The fourth line was shorted all evening because the Capitals took WAY TOO MANY PENALTIES. That needs to be cleaned up!..next up for the Caps are the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday at the Verizon Center at 7 pm.

No, Brooks Orpik is not a wood man. #44, just three contests back into the lineup after missing 40 games, helped set up the game tying goal and then scored the game winner through traffic on Cory Schneider (28 saves) to give the Washington Capitals a come from behind, 4-3, victory over a hard working Devils squad.

Orpik, who’s been paired with Russian defensemen Dmitry Orlov since he’s returned, took another awesome Kuznetsov feed and alertly fired it on net. With Alex Ovechkin and a host of Devils in front, Schneider never saw it and it hit him in the shoulder and into the top corner of the cage with 3:58 remaining.

From there the Capitals gave the Devils nothing. In fact, after the Devils took the lead with 8:56 left they had only four shot attempts (two on net) the rest of the way.

Washington was very streaky in this contest. In the first period they played the wrong way with careless cross ice turnovers that led to several New Jersey quality chances. Coach Barry Trotz was not happy with that first frame and stated afterwards that the Capitals gave up eight or nine scoring chances, which was more than the Islanders had in the whole game on Thursday in Brooklyn.

Braden Holtby (21 saves) was strong early, stopping two Devils breakaways as well as the first six shots of the game, which all came from New Jersey. But #70 struggled a bit after that giving up questionable tallies on goals two and three. On both of the first Devils goals the Caps skaters looked like orange road cones and didn’t help their goaltender out. On the third one, it was from long range, but it might have deflected partially off of a Capitals stick. Still, Braden would tell you he must have those, especially in the last 10 minutes.

For the second straight contest the Capitals destroyed the opponent in terms of shots and possession in the middle frame. The Caps out shot the Devils 12-4 and scored the only goal, a Kuznetsov tally, after some great work by Michael Latta and Brooks Laich. Washington was physical and they were getting the pucks down below the goal line on New Jersey and that’s the heavy hockey style that Coach Trotz wants because the Caps are so good at that type of play. In fact, when they play that way, they are unbeatable.

With the score 2-2 heading into the third period, you’d think the Caps would continue that roll, and for the most part they did as New Jersey had only six shots on goal. When Holtby let in the softie, though, his teammates responded, to quote the great Nuke Laloosh, by “announcing their presence with authority” the remainder of the game. The heavy hockey style was amped up and Washington just manhandled a tired Devils club, who had lost to the Islanders at home the night before, over the last 8:56.

Orpik and Orlov were the stars on the backend as they continually made plays at the blueline and on the wall to keep pucks in the offensive zone. They were simply outstanding and earned their +4 individual totals on Saturday night.

Other Capitals were stellar, as well, including Ovechkin (38th goal and an assist), T.J. Oshie (17th goal), Kuznetsov (17th goal and 43rd assist), and Mike Richards. Yes, that’s fourth liner and 0 points in 14 games, Mike Richards. But there is more to the game than points and #10’s last two games have been his best. He’s winning key draws while controlling the play with his great stick and hockey sense. He’s also been very close to getting a point with his effort and strong positioning. This guy was a great pickup and he will keep getting better and the points will come, eventually. The organization has to be really happy with what they’ve seen from him so far, especially his “team first” mentality.

Orpik, or “Batya” as Kuznetsov and Andre Burakovsky call him, is another “team first” guy. He means so much to this club on the ice with his physical play, and he rocked several Devils players in this one, and off the ice with his leadership. Guys like Orpik, Richards, and Justin Williams are super leaders and respected voices in the room. They’ve won six Stanley Cups between them for a reason.

This victory gives the Capitals another three game winning streak and they are 43-10-4 overall (90 points). I don’t even look at the standings or reference them anymore because Washington is so far ahead of the league. They will win the Metropolitan Division, the Eastern Conference, and the Presidents’ Trophy. But who cares, right?

Every Capitals fan has heard this from other fan bases all season, and, at times, even from within the fan base, “The Caps have 0 Stanley Cups.”

Yes, we all get it. If Taylor Swift was a Caps fan (and who knows, she could be?), she’d probably respond with “Why you gotta be so mean?”

But, in reality, there is nothing anyone can do to shut them up right now. You can say this team is different, and I believe it is because of the quality acquisitions GM Brian MacLellan has made along with the outstanding coaching staff, led by Trotz. However, until they run the gauntlet in April, May, and June and deliver that silver beauty of a trophy, all you can do is just enjoy the show and focus on the process they are going through.

It’s all about building their game up to deliver when the good weather arrives. This team finally has the players to do it and the blue print is there from the best coaching staff this organization has ever had. Now they just need to stay healthy and be focused.

Notes: Hat tip to referees Kelly Sutherland and Wes McCauley on their job of officiating this one. It’s among the best zebra performances I’ve seen all season…the Caps were 0 for 3 on the power play while the Devils went 0 for 1…John Carlson led the Caps in ice time with 21:33, but Oprik had 21:02…Matt Niskanen and Karl Alzner were -3 in this one. It was not one of their better nights, but those two, like Holtby, have carried this club on many other occasions, so they get a pass…Kuznetsov was +3…Nate Schmidt was the low blueliner in terms of ice time, but he still played 15:02. Great balance of ice time on the backend again by Coach Trotz and assistant coach Todd Rierden…the Devils won the face off battle, 29-24…Tom Wilson, who was also very good in this game, had eight hits while Orpik had five…Ovechkin had six shots on net, almost all from in close, which is a good thing. Schneider robbed him a couple of times…next up are the pesky Arizona Coyotes on Monday night at 7 pm at the Verizon Center.

For the second straight contest, Alexander Ovechkin was the hero for the Capitals late, scoring the game winner in the shootout to give Washington a hard fought, 3-2, victory over a pesky New Jersey Devils team on Saturday afternoon at “The Rock.”

Another big hero in this contest was Paul Carey, who notched his 1st NHL goal to tie the game up at two with 5:53 to go after the Devils tallied twice in the third period to seize a 2-1 lead. All game, the Capitals fourth line of Michael Latta, Brooks Laich, and Carey played well. Laich drew an early penalty and Carey also put Washington on the power play when Jordin Tootoo interfered with him in the third period. The Caps, however, are currently in a 0 for 15 funk with the man advantage and squandered both of those opportunities. The problems with that unit includes all of the following: losing too many initial power play draws, poor zone entries that make setting up difficult (get well soon Marcus Johansson), too much fancy play, not enough net crashing, and a lack of shots being taken towards the net.

On the game tying goal, though, Carey and his linemates did what you have to do to score on a very well coached and strong defensive Devils team, go to the net. Carey parked himself in the slot and Matt Niskanen made a whale of a play with a pass off of Carey’s stick that #28 redirected home.

Washington’s first goal, again came on a crash the net sequence after Evgeny Kuznetsov tried one of his vintage behind the back passes as he’s skating behind the opponents cage. The biscuit bounced out to Justin Williams in the lower right slot and “Stick” put the puck towards the net. Cory Schneider (27 saves) made the initial stop, but “Johnny on the Spot,” Andre Burakovsky, was camped at the right post and batted it home to give the Caps a one goal lead in the middle frame that they would take to the third period. That is now six goals in five game for #65 and he’s up to 10 goals on the year (and 14 points in his last 15 games).

For two periods the Capitals gave New Jersey pretty much nothing in this tilt and the Devils only had 14 shots on net. But in the third, Mike Richards took a tripping penalty that New Jersey’s Joseph Bladisi, who was one of the better Devils in this one, tallied on from the doorstep. Less than six minutes later, an ill advised offensive zone pass by Washington led to an odd man rush for the Devils. When the Caps over back checked, Adam Henrique was all alone in the slot and he beat Braden Holtby (22 saves) with a wicked top shelf snipe.

This Capitals team, however, is quite resilient and even though their top line was struggling with the Travis Zajac unit of New Jersey, the team fought back with the fourth lines marker. Overall, the Capitals second line, led by Kuznetsov, was their best, dominating the Devils in the shot attempt department by about a dozen.

Williams did take a late tripping call with a minute to go and the Caps penalty killing unit delivered by first forcing overtime and then thwarting another 60 seconds of four on three play. After the teams were all even at four on four, New Jersey had a long shift in the OT and had the Capitals players dog tired. Luckily a thunderous Ovechkin hit on Jacob Josefson allowed Washington to get the puck out and send the game to the gimmick.

From there, T.J. Oshie scored five hole on Schneider, while only Reid Boucher beat the Holtbeast in three tries. That set the stage for the Gr8 to win the game with a nasty backhander after a slick motorcycle kick move that froze Schneider like he was targeted by Elsa.

The victory was Washington’s second in a row and they improved to 37-9-4 (78 points). This was a game in which the Capitals had to play greasy to get a win because the Devils are so strong defensively. Washington did just enough of that to earn Holtby his league leading 32nd victory of the season.

Now it’s back home to face the despised Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday at noon. The Capitals have had trouble defeating the Philly crew in the Barry Trotz era. The Flyers are rebuilding and have a young defense as well as a deadly power play run by Claude Giroux, so staying out of the box is paramount. The Flyers are fighting for their playoff lives and last time they were in noted Caps killer, Jakub Voracek, had two goals in a 4-3 Filthy win just before the all star break.

Bottom line here: it’s time for Trotz and company to just come out and bury the Flyers.

Notes: On Sunday, it’s very likely Holtby will get the call in net while the Flyers will probably go with Michal Neuvirth, who won his last start at the VC…Washington was 0 for 3 on the power play while the Devils went 1 for 2…the Caps dominated at even strength, out shot attempting New Jersey, 48-29…the Caps lost the faceoff battle, 30-26, which I mentioned was a problem on the power play. Laich went 3-1…Jason Chimera led the Caps with five hits while Ovi had four…Niskanen led the Caps in ice time with 28:04. Karl Alzner, John Carlson, and Nate Schmidt all logged over 23 minutes while the third pair of Dmitry Orlov and Taylor Chorney each played just 12 minutes and change…Carey was called up, along with Connor Carrick, on Friday as Zach Sill was sent down to Hershey along with Aaron Ness. Coach Trotz stated that they wanted to see more of Carey, who was up for a short time earlier in the season…Coach Trotz credited assistant coach Blaine Forsythe for picking Ovechkin instead of Nicklas Backstrom in the shootout.

In a contest in which the odds were heavily stacked against them, even before referees Steve Kozari and Mike Leggo put on their Canes colored glasses, the Washington Capitals, who were undermanned without Jay Beagle, John Carlson, and Brooks Orpik in the lineup, battled as hard as they could before falling in the third period to Carolina, 4-2.

Gone went their nine game winning streak. Ditto for their string of five consecutive road wins.

But their streak of never quitting continued. Sure, the way they fought back, once again, is a moral victory on New Year’s Eve. After all, they gave everything they had to rally and defeat the Sabres on Wednesday night without Nicklas Backstrom and Beagle in the third period plus Carlson, Orpik, and Michael Latta out for the entire contest. They then had to travel to Raleigh to face a rested Hurricanes team that has been playing well.

But that’s hockey and there are no excuses.

Washington was dominated for stretches of this tilt and, at times, were their own worst enemy. Case in point, the Carolina third goal where Hershey call up Zach Sill inexplicably left sniper Jeff Skinner all alone in the slot for the game winning goal. That gave the Canes a 3-1 lead early in the third period.

However, the Caps did come out of this one with a lot of positives.

Let’s start with the pregame good news. Word is that Carlson should be back for Tuesday’s road game in Boston, so #74, who is in the top 10 to 15 defensemen in the league, should only miss a total of four games. Next, Backstrom, who scored the Capitals first goal on a whale of a snipe, was deemed healthy and looked good after suffering an upper body injury against the Sabres. Also, Latta, who stepped up for Justin Williams on Monday night and was injured fighting a circus clown, returned to the lineup and had some very strong shifts with Andre Burakovsky and Brooks Laich. Burakovsky, who scored on Wednesday to break a two month scoreless drought, logged 12:18, went +2, and was flying on the ice. That’s very encouraging and he will be very much needed come April and beyond. Remember when he dominated Caps-Rangers game four last spring? That’s what Coach Trotz and company need from this kid.

In addition, Alex Ovechkin notched his fourth goal in three games to move to 21 on the season and 496 in his career. The Gr8 came awfully close to tying this contest up late. In 20:05 of ice time Alexander the Great had 10 shot attempts, including six on net and four hits.

In goal, Philipp Grubauer almost singlehandedly gave the Caps a chance with a super effort making 33 saves, many of which were from the high danger zone. Coach Trotz should have no issue with giving Braden Holtby some rest over the remainder of the season given how well #31 is playing.

On the downside, the Caps have been piecing it together on the blue line with all of the injuries and that’s two games in a row where Coach Trotz has basically sat Connor Carrick and gone with just a five man rotation for the third period. Perhaps Aaron Ness, who was recalled from Hershey on Thursday, will get a sweater against the big Blue Jackets? That would make sense, and it in no way is a knock on the progress of Carrick. The young blue liner is only 21 and it really takes a player physically and mentally until 23 or 24 to thoroughly become a game in and game out NHL blue liner. Nate Schmidt is now 24 and is coming into his own, but two years ago, he was at a spot similar to where Carrick’s development is now.

In addition, the officiating was just downright pitiful. Carolina is one of the least penalized teams in the NHL, but you want to tell me they didn’t commit any infractions in this one while the Caps were called for three penalties? Sorry, but I’m going all Reg Dunlop, at this point.

WE ALL SAW IT WITH OUR OWN EYES!!!

Yes, the Jordan Staal trip on Evgeny Kuznetsov in the faceoff dot that allowed the Canes to get an odd man rush the other way that they scored the opening tally on. Also, the BLATANT interference on Tom Wilson that was not called with Grubauer pulled and the Caps storming the castle late. Willy had the lane to the puck to set up a chance to tie the game, but due to the non-call, the Hurricanes were able to get to the biscuit easily and hit the empty net to close this one out.

Those were two critical sequences where the zebras landed on the incorrect side of the play, as well as the Capitals, and were a major influence on the outcome. There is no denying that.

There were other missed calls, as well, most notably another Staal interference on Marcus Johansson in the third period. Basically, I started wondering if Kozari and Leggo were distant relatives of the Staal family. Maybe I’ll give Oliver Stone a call to check on that?

When it comes to the officiating on Thursday night, it’s pretty clear the prosecution (aka, me) rests its case, but with Gary Bettman and company as the judge and jury, we all know this poor performance will be swept under the rug. NFL officiating is bad, but at least they admit their mistakes, unlike the way the NHL tries to ignore the evidence in a Nixon administration-like fashion.

Oh well, I guess all NHL referees can’t be of the calibre of Dave Jackson, so the trend of poor officiating will continue, especially when it comes to plays involving Wilson. So thanks again, 30 Thoughts!

With the defeat, the Caps fall to 28-7-2 and still lead the Eastern Conference by 11 points over the New York Islanders. Washington is still a bit banged up and now head to Columbus to face a Blue Jackets team that just defeated the Dallas Stars, 6-3, on Tuesday night. They are coached by the insufferable John Tortorella and will play a hard, physical style. The Caps have a chance to keep another streak going on Saturday, they’ve gone 37 games without a two game losing streak, but now that one is in jeopardy with key guys still out.

But that’s hockey and all that matters is wins and losses, there are no excuses, so the Caps need to get back on the horse to prevail on Saturday night.

Notes: Did I mention the power plays were 3 to 0 for Carolina?…the Caps lost the face off battle, 31-28. Williams was 2-0, but the Caps were 0 for 0 on draws on the power play…the shot attempts were 69-53 for the Canes, but they had seven shots on goal on their power plays alone while the Caps had, oh wait, I forgot they had no power plays, did I say that yet?…Matt Niskanen led the Caps in ice time with 28:25 including 0:00 on the power play…the Caps had no power plays in this game.

The Washington Capitals dominated the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night, yet because of a late phantom major on Tom Wilson and some great goaltending from Andrew Hammond, the Caps had to escape a Sens charge in the last five minutes and hold on for a 2-1 victory.

Braden Holtby made 26 saves and Michael Latta, responding to a healthy scratch in Pittsburgh, added a goal and an assist in just 7:29 of ice time as Washington built a 2-0 lead through 40 minutes. The Holtbeast is now 12-0-1 in his last 13 games. His stats during the streak are a 1.67 goals-against average and a .945 save percentage. Wow!

But on this night, Holtby wasn’t the biggest reason the Capitals won. Don’t get me wrong, #70 is in the zone and played a big factor, you always need strong goaltending, but Washington was superb in its’ ability to support each other on the ice to take away opposition space and they routinely won the loose puck battles. Their only real lulls came in the middle frame, but after it was 2-0.

In the third period, the Caps were outstanding thwarting the speedy Senators rush and holding them to just three shots on goal until just five minutes were remaining. But then with 4:40 to go, Wilson, who was back checking, made contact with Curtis Lazar and the small forward, who was bent over, had his head fly back and he appeared to suffer whiplash. It was a totally clean hit, but after Chris Neil body slammed #43 to the ice the referees, Wes McCauley and rookie Jon McIsaac, erroneously called Willy for a match penalty. They did give Neil two minutes, although he deserved more, and that gave Ottawa a three minute “score as often as needed” power play. The Sens would get a quick goal and seven total shots on goal during that power play, but the Caps held on for the win, not allowing a single Senators shot on Holtby over the last 1:40, when the penalty expired, to get their 22nd victory of the season.

Unfortunately, the Caps great effort will be overshadowed and tainted by this terrible call. Once the referees and the league see the replay they will admit the mistake and strip Wilson of the match penalty, which carries an automatic suspension and review. It’s too bad that the zebras missed this so badly at real speed and also couldn’t benefit from replay, in that instance.

Afterwards, the Caps made #43 available to the media and the 21 year old gave a thorough and intelligent explanation, as Alan May pointed out on Comcast in the post game show. Wilson noted that he was just doing what he was taught, to take away Lazar’s space, and that he wasn’t even trying to hit him. He noted that the major point of contact was at the hip and then his shoulder came in on Lazar. Bottom line, if you look at the play, Lazar was bent over with the puck, Wilson makes side contact with him, but nowhere near the head, and then the physics of the situation take over. Wilson is 6 foot four and 220 pounds and Lazar is six feet and 189 pounds. Add in the angle at which Lazar was skating and it’s no wonder he got whiplash.

In the post game on Comcast, Caps announcer Craig Laughlin stated “I think Tom Wilson is being targeted.” That is bang on and it’s a terrible “reputation” call. As I predicted after the 30 Thoughts column came out last month, the referees would read that stuff and be influenced. The way things have been terribly called against Big Tom since then certainly backs my premise up.

Overall, the Capitals played a much tighter game than we’ve seen recently. As Caps reporter Mike Vogel pointed out beforehand, the Caps had allowed over 30 shots on goal in eight of their last 12 games. On Wednesday, it was only 27 against and as mentioned above, seven of those came on the incorrect Wilson major penalty power play. Washington was much more structured versus a speedy Ottawa team that typically gives them fits because of their skating ability. That was not the case in this one and the Capitals dominated the quality chances, including a big save by Hammond on Alex Ovechkin in the third period after the Gr8 went around two time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson like an orange road cone.

Washington is now 22-6-2 (46 points) and has a four point lead over the Rangers and five point lead over the Islanders in the Metropolitan Division. They have two games in hand on both squads. They also lead the Eastern Conference by three points over the Montreal Canadiens and have two games in hand on the Habs, as well.

Next up are the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Verizon Center on Friday night. Hopefully the NHL will see the error in the Wilson call and Willy will be able to play against a tough Bolts squad.

Notes: Coach Barry Trotz disagreed with the Wilson call following the contest, as well…Trotz and his staff did a really nice job of spreading the defensive minutes out on Wednesday. Matt Niskanen led the way with 23:53, but the lowest blue line total, for Taylor Chorney, was 14:46. That’s good stuff because the top two defensive pairs had been logging a lot of time lately at the expense of the third pairing and that can increase the chance of injury…John Carlson had the GWG after Latta’s neutral zone takeaway allowed Justin Williams to set up #74 with a sweet feed that Captain America buried…Andre Burakovsky only logged 7:33 but I thought he was strong on the puck and playing the way he needs to and I see a goal in his future very soon…the faceoff battle was even-steven at 26 apiece…the Caps had 25 shots on goal and were 0 for 2 with the power play. Ottawa was 1 for 3 with the man advantage…the Capitals wore their new third jerseys, which were the road uniforms they wore back in the late 1980’s and early 90’s, and they looked fabulous!

Evgeny Kuznetsov continues to put NHL teams on notice with his ability to make sensational plays when the game seems to matter most.

In a contest where the Caps played sluggish, at times, the star in the making took over a 3-3 hockey game to deliver a goal and an assist over the last 24 minutes and allow the Caps to win their third straight tilt, 5-3, at the Verizon Center.

Kuznetsov, who had an assist on Justin Williams’ tally that opened the scoring to notch another three point night, now has 8 goals and 16 assists in 21 games to lead the Capitals in scoring with 24 points.

Dmitry Orlov had the winning tally late in period two after Kuzya circled the Winnipeg zone confusing the Jets defense. #92, after a lap and a quarter around the offensive zone, dropped the biscuit to #9 in the middle of the ice just inside the blue line and Orlov hammered another one home with Williams screening the Jets keeper, Michael Hutchinson (29 saves). That’s three goals in three games for Orlov, who was superb on this night. Kuznetsov then sealed the deal with a nice forecheck on overrated Winnipeg defensemen Dustin Byfuglien. That allowed Marcus Johansson to gather the puck and send Kuzya in all alone on Hutchinson and the Russian beat him five hole on the backhand. At that point, it would have been very appropriate for the Caps in game entertainment crew to blast the famed INXS song, “Mystify,” because that is what Kuznetsov did to the Jets on this night.

Braden Holtby (23 saves) gave up three goals, two of them were on grade A opportunities in the slot and the third he had no chance on, Mathieu Perreault’s power play tally that tied the game at three, because Blake Wheeler was standing directly in front of him. The Caps defense needed to do a better job of boxing out there or getting out and blocking that shot.

Recently the Capitals have been really strong at closing out games, a big part of which is due to their depth. Coach Barry Trotz can keep coming at you with four lines and three defensive pairs and eventually the opponent wears down. For the first seven minutes in period three it did not look like that would be the case in this one, but then Washington took over dominating the play over the last 13 minutes. In that stretch Kuznetsov provided the insurance tally and it was the Capitals relentless forecheck, cycle game, and physical play in the offensive zone that broke Winnipeg’s will. In fact, from the 13:40 mark of the third period until just 24 seconds remaining, the Jets only had TWO shots on goal. Now that is shutting a club down and displaying a killer instinct, something the Caps have been trying to build this season. They are well on their way to having that, from what I’ve seen in these first 21 games.

Overall, the Caps held the Jets to 26 shots on goal while they had 34 themselves. In shot attempts, the Capitals had the edge there too, at 62-57. Winnipeg is a big team and presented issues for Washington on this night, but ultimately Trotz’ crew got their legs moving and took over a hockey game that looked like it could go either way for about 35 minutes. I continue to like the way this team is handling the last 25 minutes of hockey games by taking control, stifling their opponents, and getting victories.

This triumph pushes the Caps to 15-5-1 (31 points) and with the Rangers losing to Montreal on Thanksgiving Eve, Washington is only three points back of first place in the Metropolitan Division, with a game in hand.

It wasn’t pretty, but it was another solid victory and now the Capitals will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning at 5 pm on Friday to close out their five game home stand. The Bolts were in the Stanley Cup Finals last spring, so I expect the Caps to be pumped up to show Steve Yzerman’s team just how good Washington is this season.

Notes: Alex Ovechkin notched his 11th goal of the season on the power play late in period one. The Caps had two different man advantage situations in that frame and the Jets received two power plays in period two. Both teams went 1 for 2 with the man advantage. I thought referees Kelly Sutherland and Chris Rooney let a few other Jet infractions go, but that’s hockey…John Carlson had two assists and led the Caps in ice time with 23:57. Byfuglien played 27:51 for Winnipeg and he ran out of gas in period three. He was -2…the Capitals lost the face off battle, 31-23. Michael Latta was 1-6…the Gr8 had 15 shot attempts (8 SOG) and five hits to go with his PPG in 22:02 of ice time…Orlov had an assist on Nicklas Backstrom’s 8th goal of the season, that made it 3-2. Nate Schmidt made a great pass across the crease to feed #19 on the doorstep for a layup…Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

“He’s unbelievable. Honestly, we lose that game if he’s not in the net. If we have any other goalie in the league playing that game, then we don’t win that hockey game.” – Washington Forward Tom Wilson on Braden Holtby.

There aren’t many truer words spoken than those from Caps forward Tom Wilson following Braden Holtby’s stellar 33 save shutout victory against the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night at the Verizon Center. The Holtbeast was downright incredible making several stops on odd man rushes and a glove save on Eric Gryba that will be shown all across hockey highlight shows this season.

Holtby’s heroics allowed the Caps to steal two points from the Oilers when Dmitry Orlov scored on a rocket of a shot with 6:32 remaining in regulation. The laser from #9 followed a series of hard working shifts by the Capitals, but it was fitting that the Washington fourth line of Brooks Laich (assist), Michael Latta, and Wilson (assist) were the plumbers who worked the wall and were able to get the biscuit in perfect position for the young Russian defensemen to tattoo the puck into the top right corner for his second goal in two games.

From there, the Caps really played well and had several chances to increase their lead, but either Anders Nilsson (29 saves) made the stop or the Capitals missed the net (which has been a problem in recent games). Edmonton pulled Nilsson late for the extra attacker, but Holtby made a couple of more quality stops on Taylor Hall (six shots on goal), in close, to seal the deal.

One of the few bright spots for Washington, other than their goaltender, was the Caps penalty killing unit. They went a perfect three for three on the night in 5:43 of PK time, including a four minute double minor situation that came as the result of a Nicklas Backstrom high stick. Often a team will gain momentum from a great job of thwarting back-to-back man advantage situations and score shortly thereafter, but that was not the case on this night.

It was not a pretty win and the Caps did not play well for roughly the first 50 minutes. Coach Barry Trotz did not like their will along the boards nor their compete level in the opening two periods. There were far too many odd man rushes against caused by mental mistakes, poor execution, and suspect positioning.

Wilson noted that the Caps weren’t doing the things that allow them to be successful for the first two plus periods of hockey.

“We weren’t playing very well, we weren’t getting pucks in. I think you saw the tilt in the ice a little bit at the end when we got desperate…it was by no means our best game,” said the 21 year old power forward.

Washington was able to stay in the game and find a way to win, once again. Their best frame was the third period when they out shot the Oilers, 15-10, in those 20 minutes. That’s been another nice development this season, strong and dominating third periods.

Overall, the Caps didn’t deserve two points on Monday night and yet they got them. Last Thursday they certainly deserved a win or at worst a point against the Dallas Stars and came up empty, but that’s the way the hockey gods work sometimes.

“He absolutely deserved the shutout. He’s been one of our top players all year. Tonight he was by far our best player. There wasn’t anybody in the same universe as him.”

Again, no truer words could be spoken.

Notes: Holtby has won four straight games and is 12-4-0 this season with a 1.88 goals against average and a .926 save percentage. This was his second career shutout against Edmonton (last one on March 9, 2011)…Matt Niskanen led the Caps in ice time with 26:18…Coach Trotz noted afterwards that he hasn’t liked his teams consistency over the last eight or nine games…the Caps won the face off battle, 31-22. Backstrom was 14-7…Shot attempts for the game were 68-54 for the Oilers, but it was 25-18, Caps, in the 3rd period…Alex Ovechkin led the Caps with five shots on goal. He also led the team in hits with seven…next up for the Caps are the Winnipeg Jets at the Verizon Center on Wednesday at 7 pm.

The Washington Capitals played well on Thursday night in a tough, 3-2, loss to the Dallas Stars, but they rebounded strongly with their best first period of the season in a 7-3 beat down of the Colorado Avalanche at the Verizon Center on Saturday evening.

The Caps needed this type of win, one in which they broke their nine game streak of not scoring first and one in which they raced out to a big lead. It was 4-0 after one period, but 4-2 after 40 minutes since Patrick Roy yanked Reto Berra for Calvin Pickard to start the middle frame. Pickard was superb early on and the Capitals were also guilty of not connecting fully on their shots and over passing the biscuit, which allowed the Avalanche to hang around.

But as they’ve done fairly consistently this season, the Caps put the hammer down in the third period and salted this one away with three goals against a single Colorado tally. The Avalanche only had seven shots on goal in the final 20 minutes and finished with 27 shots on net for the game.

This was a total team effort as evidenced by the fact that 14 of the 18 Washington players had points in this tilt, including three assists for Jason Chimera and a goal and two assists for Evgeny Kuznetsov. There were contributions from Caps players up and down the lineup. Alex Ovechkin notched his 10th goal of the season off of another amazing Nicklas Backstrom pass and also added an assist. T.J. Oshie had an assist on Karl Alzner’s goal to give the Capitals a full touchdown in this contest, but #77 could have had at least three goals on this night with all of the grade A chances he had.

Colorado is fast up front, but their defense is not very good and the Caps took advantage of that. All four lines looked solid and Tom Wilson was in the Avalanche players heads all evening. Unfortunately, due to some bad writing from the Great White North and some whining from opposing GM’s that have influenced the zebras, Willy wasn’t able to put the Caps on the power play via his two incidents when clearly his club should’ve received a man advantage. I’ve been a Jarome Iginla fan his whole career, but he played like a beaten thug on this night and somehow only incurred four PIMs. It might be time for the old man to finally hang it up.

Defensemen Nate Schmidt, John Carlson, Dmitry Orlov, and Alzner all scored goals on this night as the Washington blue line did a super job of getting shots to the goal and jumping up in the play when the time was right. Orlov’s goal that made it 6-2 was one in which he just totally blew by the Avalanche defense and alertly got his own rebound to end up with a practically vacant cage to deposit the puck into. GM Brian MacLellan and Coach Barry Trotz have to be pleased with where both Schmidt and Orlov are at through 19 games into the season. There are no more questions about the 3rd defensive pair and that’s with Brooks Oprik missing the last five games. If there is any nitpicking to do, it would be on the Caps ability to clear the front of their own net, especially on the PK. That’s an area that #44 specializes in. But it is more important for Orpik to get totally healthy; November games don’t matter a ton to a veteran D who will be a critical component of this team in the spring.

Up front, Coach Trotz benched Andre Burakovsky (one point in last 11 games), bumped Justin Williams up to the second line, and inserted Stan Galiev on the 3rd line. Galiev did not look out of place and certainly earned a sweater for Monday’s tilt against the Edmonton Oilers at the Verizon Center at 7 pm. Burakovsky needs to watch the film of the Caps win over the Flyers last Thursday and play more like he did that night. Against Filthy, he was strong on the boards and was not shying away from contact, in fact, he was initiating it and Philly couldn’t move him off of the play. The Flyers three penalties that night were all drawn by Burakovsky. We’ll see if he’s back against the Connor McDavid-less Oilers, but I’m not sure who would come out if he goes back in?

So the Caps now sit at 13-5-1 and have 27 points. They trail the first place Rangers by five points and lead the third place Penguins by three points. Washington has a game in hand on both clubs.

Still, it’s a long season and the key is for the Capitals to keep improving, especially in their own zone, which is where you win and lose playoff games.

Notes: Shot attempts were 62-46 for Washington. The Caps were 1 for 4 on the power play while they gave up a goal to the Avs in their only shorthanded situation…the Capitals buried Colorado at the dot, 39-21. Michael Latta, who drew a penalty after a clean hit in the 3rd period, was 8-1 while Jay Beagle went 10-4…Matt Niskanen led the Caps in ice time with 23:38…the Caps had 32 shots on goal while Braden Holtby stopped 24 of 27 shots. One of them was a huge save early in period three with the score, 4-2…Ovechkin, who set the Russian goal scoring record at 484 in Thursday’s defeat to Dallas, only needed 7:15 into this contest to get to goal number 485.

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs did not go as planned, at all, for the Washington Capitals as they fell to the New York Islanders, 4-1, at the Verizon Center.

You could sum this game up with the following sentence.

The Islanders played very well while the Capitals did not.

New York, led by John Tavares, looked confident and fast as they came out flying to dominate the first frame. Somehow the Caps were able to keep it 1-1 after 20 minutes but in period two, the Islanders scored directly off of a face off after a lazy icing was whistled on Washington. New York would add another goal just past the midway point and they played solid defense the rest of the way to win in relatively easy fashion.

The Caps struggled with their passing and breakouts all game. They tried to make the long stretch pass far too often and they were ultra sloppy in the neutral zone. Troy Brouwer’s turnover allowed Brock Nelson to skate in alone down the right wing side and he snapped a wrister by Braden Holtby short side for the opening tally. It was not a good goal allowed by #70.

Marcus Johansson tied the game with 57 seconds left in the first period after Brooks Laich outworked two Islanders in the corner and made a nice feed in the slot to a streaking #90. Jojo beat Jaroslav Halak (24 saves) five hole to whip the Verizon Center crowd into a frenzy.

But on this night the Capitals could never get any sustained offense going. They repeatedly made poor passing decisions that led to turnovers allowing New York to excel in their transition game. This was one of the worst games Washington had all season in terms of breaking the puck out of their own zone. On Wednesday night they looked more like the 2013-14 Caps instead of the team that amassed 101 points in 2014-15.

Afterwards the message in the Caps room and from Coach Barry Trotz was consistent. The Islanders deserved part of the credit for winning while the Capitals played poorly and needed to be a lot better. Trotz said he was very disappointed in the performance of many on his team. The Washington bench boss pointed out that there weren’t many scoring chances for either team in this tilt. New York did a good job of clogging the middle of the ice in the neutral zone and in front of their own net. If the Caps want to win they need to get bodies and pucks through to try and rattle Halak, who had a far too easy night.

Fortunately this is just one game and the playoffs are all about adjustments by the players and the coaches. Game one was all New York and now it is on the Capitals to adjust. Will that include lineup changes? Perhaps. Michael Latta only played 5:16 and he lost the draw that led to the Islanders winning goal. Does Tom Wilson get back in or is he still recovering from the puck he took to the head in Detroit on April 5th? Does Jason Chimera, who took a bad penalty at the end of periods two and three, come out for Andre Burakovsky? That’s to be determined.

There’s no need for the Capitals to panic, at this point. They played poorly and lost the series opener to give away home ice. But where the game is played doesn’t matter a whole lot, it’s how you play the game. In the series opener the Islanders played extremely well and they deserved to win. The Caps, on the other hand, have a lot of work to do in order to come out on top in game two on Friday night. They need to pass the puck better and they need to win more of the one on one battles.

Notes: Washington won the face off battle handily, 39-23, but Latta lost that key second period draw to Tavares, who was fabulous in this game, that led to the winning goal…New York out shot the Caps 27-25 and out shot attempted them 65-55, primarily behind a 23-11 first period advantage…both teams were 0 for 2 on the power play…Matt Niskanen was on the ice for all four Islanders goals (the last was an empty net). Brooks Orpik and John Carlson were the only plus players for the Capitals (+1)…Carlson led the Caps in ice time at 23:03. Orpik was second with 21:37…Alex Ovechkin had 12 shot attempts, including eight shots on net…Nicklas Backstrom was 14-6 on draws…Jay Beagle and Eric Fehr returned to the lineup after missing several games due to injury…Travis Hamonic missed the game for New York, but the Islanders defense played well. Johnny Boychuk led the team with 23:05 of ice time.

At 29 years young, Alexander Ovechkin is playing the best hockey of his career.

On Tuesday night, the Gr8 scored twice, including the eventual game winner, to increase his NHL leading goal scoring total to 43, and more importantly, was the primary reason the Washington Capitals got two points in a chippy contest in Columbus.

Maybe it’s the cannon or perhaps it’s the fact that the Blue Jackets are banged up and have to ice some real thug type players, but it seems each time these two teams have played this season it’s been a battle that has teetered on the edge. In this one, you could argue that things got out of hand with four fights. Certainly referee Dan O’Halloran didn’t have one of his better nights and it culminated with head coach Barry Trotz letting the zebra have it after the final horn for calling Marcus Johansson for delay of game with 2:16 remaining when #90’s stick was clearly broken. I don’t think I’ve seen that one before.

Anyways, Jojo would get the last laugh scoring the empty net clincher to make it 5-3 after a beast of a penalty kill by Brooks Orpik and the Caps. Orpik was outstanding in this contest and he notched his 16th assist of the season in 23:25 of ice time (second on the Caps to John Carlson with 23:51). The Caps are undefeated when #44 gets a point this season (14-0).

This was a game that started perfectly for the Capitals as they scored twice in the opening 20 minutes and dominated in all facets, including 16-6 in shots on goal. But the middle frame turned into a Twilight Zone episode as Washington became unraveled when Jared Boll took a run at Michael Latta and hit him in the head. Tom Wilson, who had just scored to make it 3-1, would fight Boll and add an instigator minor plus a 10 minute misconduct. Boll somehow was called for the fight and just two minutes for charging on a cheap shot that should be reviewed by a league that claims to want to distance itself from head shots. That weak call led to more tom foolery and took the Capitals off of their game. The Blue Jackets would dominate the middle period and pulled to within 3-2. During that stanza, Braden Holtby (27 saves) denied Scott Hartnell (2 goals, 1 assist) on a penalty shot.

Fortunately for Washington, Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom (2 assists) would hook up on another tally, with #19 making a sweet cross ice feed to the Gr8 on the power play. Ovechkin rifled the biscuit by Sergei Brobovsky, who returned to action on Tuesday for the first time since being injured on January 21st, to make it 4-2. After a poor slashing penalty by Troy Brouwer, Hartnell scored again to cut it to 4-3 and then the Caps sweated it out down the stretch before closing the game out on the empty net tally.

There were things to like in this game for Washington, especially the way they played in period one when all of the trade deadline tension seemed to be finally out of their system. In addition, Ovechkin continues to dominate and he had eight shots on goal. Tim Gleason had a solid second start as a Capital in just 14:14 of ice time and he had the primary assist on Eric Fehr’s rebound tally that made it 2-0.

On the flip side, the Caps have to stop getting involved in the rough stuff. It’s one thing to protect teammates and be tough, but getting caught up in the crap Columbus was trying to pull only detracts from the skill the Capitals rely on. Yes, Washington is a big and physical squad and unlike years past, you aren’t going to push them around. But you can get them off of their game and barking at the opponent and referees, at times. That’s something Trotz needs to put a halt to quickly. When Washington plays its game, they are very hard to defeat. In addition to getting dragged into the stupid stuff, the Capitals didn’t get a strong performance from their second line. Evgeny Kuznetsov was off again and it is now nine straight games he’s gone without a point. He was -2 in this tilt and #92 is clearly struggling big time. He’s -7 over those last nine games and his line is getting routinely outplayed. He may need a game off just to reset.

But despite all of the craziness in this contest, when you step back and analyze it, this was once again a truly fantastic performance by Ovechkin, who is having another MVP-type season.

Notes: Washington is now 35-20-10 (80 points) and 11 points ahead of the 9th place Florida Panthers…the Caps won the face off battle, 31-28, while the Blue Jackets won the shot attempt tally, 51-48…Latta did not return after the Boll cheap shot…Jason Chimera had two assists and a fight…Curtis Glencross made his Capitals debut and was a -2 in 12:10 of ice time…Backstrom leads the NHL in assists with 49 and he and Ovechkin are tied for the NHL points lead with 67…next up for the Caps are a red hot Minnesota Wild team at the Verizon Center on Thursday night at 7 pm.